Photography and Society
When Benjamin (1977) spoke of the revolutionary significance of photography in terms of sensory perception (changes to usage) and the possibility of mass production in the thirties, the actual significance of his theories can be measured today. On the one hand a constantly (and still) expanding photography market has developed. It provides the necessary equipment, chemicals, etc. (means of production) and the necessary aesthetics in terms of user manuals are supplied as well.
On the other hand as a mass medium it is part of the communication system of the masses, where photography confronts us in its diverse manifestations (media, advertising, as prove, as a means of documentation, art, hobby photographers) and determines our view of reality.
We are all recipients of the massive output of information on a daily basis. – Photography as a consumer item propagates itself through mass media. From the point of view of the recipient, the output of information through mass media often takes place with no coherence, that is, different and often contradictory items prevail side by side.
Hence photography has really become a classic element of a functional, capitalist society. On the one hand, it serves as a spectacle for the masses. On the other hand, it serves a means of control by producing dominating ideologies.
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